The man nodded. Sora looked to the ceiling and spotted two security cameras. “Oh crap! Katie, come back!”
“What? Why–”
“KATIE, DUCK!”
Katie ducked just in time as bullets struck the place where her head had been.
Two armed masked men ran down the stairs. At the sight of Sora, they started firing again. Just as he was about to dodge, Sora realized that the hostages were still tied up behind him and would get hit. So instead, he summoned the Wind Fangs and used the wind cage to shield them.
The bullets couldn’t penetrate through the wall of compressed air. But Sora did not have time to wait for them to run out of ammo. The manager was still in their hands. He couldn’t ask the police to interfere till he was rescued.
Just then, two purple balls flew at the shooters from the side. They were blown back and knocked unconscious. Katie came out and said, “Good work. How did you know that they were coming?”
Sora replied, “When I heard that the security surveillance office was in the next floor, I had a hunch that someone may be monitoring the cameras. And coincidently, I saw those two guys coming down at the same time. But enough chitchat. The manager is still being held hostage in the fifth floor. We better move.”
“W…wait. What about us?” The store assistant, whose gag Sora had removed, asked frightened.
Katie said, “You have to stay like that for some time. The exits are rigged to blow, so we can’t risk letting you guys walk out just yet. Be patient.”
Saying this, Katie followed Sora as they climbed up the next flight of stairs.
The fourth floor was filled with cubicles and desks for office work. The stairs leading to the fifth floor were at the far side of the room. But at the side, two men carrying shotguns aimed at the young contractors.
As they shot, Katie ducked and Sora blocked the bullets again. He said, “Katie, you get to the next floor, I’ll handle these guys.”
Katie nodded and sprinted to the stairs. The masked men shot at her this time, but their attack was cancelled out yet again by Sora.
He smirked and said, “Your fight’s with me. Let’s have some fun, shall we.”
Katie ran up the stairs and burst through the door at the end of them. She had a glimpse of three men; two of them with masks, the third man trembling as a knife was pointed at his neck. The next thing she noticed was a grenade flying towards her.
Instinctively, she thrust out her palm and shot out another purple ball at it. The grenade, which was about to blow, suddenly started dissolving.
One of the masked men said, “Impressive. As expected from a Lucifer’s Fall contractor. But don’t make another move, missy. You don’t want this gentleman to have his throat slit, do you?”
Katie said, “No, I don’t. But if you do that, your last chance of escaping would disappear, as the helicopter won’t arrive. All the other hostages have been freed. Just give up quietly.”
The man, who seemed to be the boss, replied, “Oh, but I have another card to play.”
He pulled out a small device, which Katie thought was–
“– A detonator. I have enough explosives in the basement to blow the whole building to the heavens.”
Katie went white in horror. She said, “Are you mad? Why are you doing this?”
The man said, “For money. I know it sounds silly but it’s all for money. We need it desperately.”
Katie screeched, “You’re totally insane! I won’t let you.”
The other masked man suddenly pulled the trigger. Katie dived behind a nearby pillar to avoid the bullets.
The boss shouted again, “Just wait a few more minutes, dear. The kind gentleman had finally agreed to open the safe. We’ll take our catch and move on. We’ll have the best seats while seeing the building blow up.”
Just then, Katie saw a small black ball fly from the stairs. It landed next to the armed men and exploded, releasing a thick black smoke.
Sora ran into the room and straight into the black smoke. He jumped and pushed the boss to the floor; thereby freeing the hostage and making the detonator fly out of his hand and fall in no man’s land. With the boss pinned down, Sora shouted, “Katie, get the detonator!”
As Katie sprinted to it, she could spot the other masked thief wander out of the smoke and point his gun at her. She had no chance of dodging. But as the gun fired, Sora jumped and stuck out his left hand to block the bullet. Katie rolled and retrieved the detonator. Then, with swift movement, she sent a fist shaped poison blast straight at the last thief, who flew to the other side of the room and lay motionless.
She glanced at the boss and realized that he was knocked out as well. Then she saw Sora get to his feet, take out his radio transceiver and say, “Hostages secured. Commence your attack.”
He got the reply, “~about time~” Then, they heard a few shots being fired and then silence. A door was broken down and they saw armed forces run into the room from the floor above. Katie said, “The hostages are in the second and third floor. All the thieves were taken care of.”
The men saluted both of them and ran down. Katie then approached Sora and said, “Show me your left hand. You were shot, weren’t you?”
Sora grinned and flashed his G-watch, which had a bullet stuck in the middle. He said, “Guess I need a new one.”
Katie laughed. Then her eyes moved from the watch on his wrist to the strange symbol on the back of his palm. She asked, “What’s that?”
Sora pulled his hand out of her grasp and covered his fist. His eye twitched a little when he said, “Nothing. Just a small scratch.”
Katie knew that Sora was lying to her. But then she shook her head and said, “Well, mission accomplished. You helped me out a lot today. It was nice working with you, Sora.”
She held out her hand and Sora shook it, saying, “Yeah. And wasn’t that the first time you called me by my name?”
Katie stuck out her tongue and said, “Who cares? Let’s head back to the guild.”
After all the formalities were taken care of, Sora and Katie returned to the guild headquarters. As they entered, all the guild members present started applauding and there were a few rounds of whistling.
Sora said embarrassed, “News travels fast, doesn’t it.”
“Yeah, it does.” Sora turned to see Jake walking towards him. Jake said, “I thought you wanted a day off today. And you ended up taking out a bunch of armed thieves in Zack’s family’s store. Who’s surprised?”
Sora shrugged and said, “What can I say? Trouble finds me.”
They walked into the cafeteria to have a snack.
As they took a seat, Jake said, “I was more surprised on hearing that you did it with Katie.”
Katie asked, “And why is that?”
Sora said, “Well obviously. It’s common knowledge that Zack’s admirers don’t like me.”
Katie blushed and said, “How many times must I tell you that I don’t like Zack that way?”
Both Sora and Jake sniggered. Jake said, “And speak of the devil!”
Sora waved a hand and Zack, who had just entered, came towards them and stood behind Katie. Zack said, “Sora, heard about your mission. Nice work. And who was your partner this time?”
Sora saw Katie’s immobile face. With a grin, he said, “Why, it’s the person sitting right in front of you.”
Zack walked to the side and saw Katie’s face. Katie tried not to look at Zack. But what happened next was mind blowing.
Zack actually went deep scarlet and looked away. Both Jake and Sora ’s jaws seemed to dislocate and drop down.
Jake recovered first and said, “Take a seat, Zack. A noble shouldn’t stay standing, right?”
The only seat available was right opposite Katie. Zack sat down, with his face turned away. Then coincidently, both Zack and Katie turned to look at the other and their eyes met. They whirled around again.
Jake’s jaw dropped again. He looked at Sora, who mouthed, “No freaking way!” Jus
t then, someone called out, “Hey Sora.”
They turned to see Kai entering the room. He shouted again, “Come here for a minute. I have something for you.”
Sora got up to leave. Jake got up as well and muttered, “Got to use the bathroom.” He took a last look at Zack and Katie’s flustered faces and left with a grin.
Sora ran over to Kai and said, “You couldn’t have called me at a better time.”
Kai asked curiously, “Why?”
Sora said, “Oh, it’s nothing. So what did you want to give me?”
Kai took out a pair of biker gloves and handed it to him.
Sora took the leather gloves and asked, “What are these for?”
Kai said, “It occurred to me that your black flame contract symbol might raise some awkward questions. So I thought that if you wear these, people might not notice.”
Sora said as he tried them on, “And I thought Jake was the psychic contractor. Katie asked me about it today as well. I was able to change the topic though.”
As he removed the gloves and put them in his pocket, the balls he had bought in Genesis Alley fell out. Luckily, they didn’t break. Sora hurriedly picked them up and answered Kai’s questioning glance saying that it was just some things he had bought that day.
As Sora left for his room, Kai started walking, not realizing that one of Sora’s balls was right under his feet.
That night, when Sora came down for dinner, Jake said, “I heard Kai has been in the toilet near the cafeteria for a few hours now and is refusing to come out.”
Sora laughed and then suddenly stopped and checked his pocket. Finding only four pale brown balls, Sora muttered, “Oops.”
Soon after the calendar flipped into April, Sora exited the training area after a taxing morning workout in the power improvement area. He had worked up a good sweat, striking kimatic rubber coated mannequins.
After a quick shower in his room, Sora felt his stomach grumble. Instinctively, he looked at his left wrist to see the time. He constantly forgot that the guild engineers were still fixing his G watch since a bullet in the jewellery heist struck it a few weeks ago.
He went to the cafeteria to tame his savage stomach.
The usual aroma of delicious seasoned spices and freshly baked bread welcomed him as he walked into the huge hall. There were quite a number of people there as well, seeing as it was the common time for contractors in the guild to get ready for the day’s work.
Sora noticed that a group of men in a table were beckoning him to sit near them. After filling his plate with a large amount of dishes, Sora sat with them and said, “Hey, good morning.”
The others greeted back, “Morning.”
The sandy haired man sitting next to Sora stared at the plate and said, “I can’t believe you can stuff yourself with so much. Where in the world does all of it go?”
Sora replied after taking a huge bite of his loaf of bread, “Beats me, Luke. I just keep eating till I’m full.”
The red headed man sitting across Sora said, “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you? Maybe I should start stuffing myself so that I can get as strong as you are.”
Sora laughed and said, “Bill, if you only hog and don’t train at all, you’ll only be employed for sumo wrestling, not normal jobs.”
The man next to Bill, a black headed tall man named Eddy Cue, said, “Cut him some slack, Sora. You’re different from us, who need years of training and experience to get promoted.”
The young brown-headed boy sitting at the far end of the table, who took the same entrance test as Sora to get into the guild, said, “You’re not one to talk. You’ve become a B rank after nearly two years. That’s amazing too, you know. I was said to be one of the strongest guys from the contractor school from my batch and I’m still getting used to high level D rank missions.”
Sora laughed with the others and then asked, “Wait… Kira, what’s a contractor school?”
The table went quiet. Then the man sitting at the other side of the table, Tim Fadell, said, “Hold on…don’t tell me… you didn’t pass out from a contractor school?”
The others stared at him shocked. Sora was confused at their reaction. Bill answered him, “There are schools set up in various cities around the world specialising in teaching young contractors how to use their contracts. The course goes on for as long as five years. Some talented guys pass out after three… even two years.”
Eddy continued, “After we finish the course, we are given career options. There are many jobs other than being a guild contractor for those with contracts. Only the strongest out of the lot aim at joining the guilds. Don’t tell me you didn’t even know of that!”
Sora shrugged and said, “I was raised in a remote village. I never knew such places existed.”
Amused, Luke asked, “Where did you train to get this strong then? Blood Hill Forest?”
“Yeah. How did you guess?”
Kira choked on the water he was drinking and spat it out. Coughing and teary eyed, he said, “Are you mental! Training in Blood Hill Forest? Did you seriously have a death wish?”
Sora appeared disconcerted when he said, “There were…various circumstances as to why I went there. But I came back in one piece, though I almost did die. I wouldn’t recommend that place for a vacation.”
The conversation dragged on. Sora could sense the group was unsettled. They were certainly shocked that someone younger and inexperienced than them could survive such a dangerous place.
After completing his breakfast, Sora got up to leave. Just then, someone called out, “There you are, Sora. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”
Sora turned to see a young man, just a couple of years older to him, walking briskly towards him. Sora had caught a glimpse of him around the guild headquarters, but he had never actually spoken to him.
The young man reached him and said, “Hey, I’m Sean Murray. I’m a B rank contractor in the guild. Nice to meet you, finally.”
Sora shook hands with him and said, “Nice to meet you too. Did you want something from me?”
Sean replied, “Yeah. I had just picked up a new job today and thought it might need an extra hand. So, would you mind tagging along?”
Before Sora could answer him, Eddy got up and said, “Hold on, Sean. It’s surprising enough that you need help in a job. But asking a C rank contractor to help in a B rank mission is going overboard.”
Sean shrugged and said, “Come on. I’ve just become a B rank contractor two weeks ago. And besides, you don’t need me to know that Sora is obviously stronger than all of us. The only thing he lacks is experience.”
Sora felt his heart race. He had felt a bit exhilarated from C rank missions itself. Just thinking about the challenge a B rank mission had to offer lit a fire in his heart. He replied immediately, “Count me in.”
Sean grinned and said, “Knew I could count on you. I’ll send you the mission details to your G watch.”
Sora said, “That would be a problem. Mine was broken when a bullet struck it a few days ago.”
Sean sighed and said, “Can’t be helped. I’ll brief you the details while we go on to meet our client. Pack up everything you would need for travelling. We’ll leave as soon as you’re ready. Meet me at the entrance.”
Sora waved goodbye to the others and rushed to his room. Just as he was about to reach his room, Jake stepped out from the next room and was almost run over.
Sora stopped and said, “Sorry Jake. And what were you doing in that room?”
Jake said in an annoyed tone, “I live there, actually. Glad you’re keeping track of your neighbours after a whole month in the guild.”
Sora replied apologetically, “I never realized it. So it’s the scent of your stinky socks that I have to bear every night?”
He ducked as Jake aimed a punch at his face.
Jake waved his hand and said, “Forget that. Why were you rushing anyway?”
Sora excitedly recounted what had happened. But t
o his surprise, Jake demurred. Instead, he said, “I think it’s a bad idea.”
Sora was taken aback. He asked, “Why do you say that? Sean said that I could handle it.”
Jake shook his head and said, “Look, I know Sean. We took the guild entrance test together. And his thinking is slightly messed up. No, not bad hearted or anything,” he said, reading Sora’s mind. “But he’s the type of guy who demands the best of each person’s ability. His tactics and plans are based solely on that. And he hardly ever has a backup plan. I think he’s just plain reckless.”
Sora scratched his cheek and said, “So, are you telling me not to trust him?”
Jake shrugged and said, “That’s for you to decide. And I never said his tactics were bad. They are sometimes totally brilliant. But they are always dangerous and reckless. But he is strong I can assure you that. And the way he uses his contract is quite unique as well.”
Sora asked curiously. “What do you mean?”
Jake said, “You should see for yourself.” Saying that, Jake walked away, wishing him luck.
Within a few minutes, Sora had packed a rucksack stuffed with all necessary commodities (mainly food) and pulled on the gloves given to him by Kai. He spotted Sean leaning near the main entrance of the guild. Sora ran up to him and said, “Sorry for the wait.”
Sean smiled and said, “No problem. Let’s get a move on, shall we?”
They exited the guild and started walking down the bustling streets of Gildartz City when Sora enquired about the details of their job.
Sean said, “We’re going to hear it from our client anyway, but I’ll fill you up on everything I know. What do you know about Arthur Wayne?”
Sora asked with wide eyes, “You mean the insanely rich entrepreneur, Arthur Wayne? Everybody knows him. He’s got one of the largest contract trading businesses in the world.”
Sean nodded and said, “The very same Arthur Wayne has hired us to retrieve a certain contract for fifty thousand Zens. We’re going to meet him in his shop in the city.”
After around fifteen minutes of walking, they stood in front of the Wayne contract store, a majestic three-story building. There were a decent number of people walking in and out of the shop.
Contractor: The Legendary Contract of Vento Page 12
